Genesis

Oslo, Norway

One Year Later


"Hey… Elsa?"

Elsa looked up from her bowl of cereal where she was sitting at the kitchen table, then found Anna as she walked in. She had heard Anna rouse from her sleep in the bedroom of their shared apartment. Not long after the events of the island, Anna moved in with Elsa, at the request of the elder sibling.

"Yes, Anna?" Elsa smiled warmly then noticed the solemn expression on her face. "What's on your mind?" she stood up and approached Anna, holding her by the arms reassuringly.

Anna looked down in her hands where she was fretting with the holy grail. "I think," she looked up at Elsa and drew on her support. "I think I'm ready."

Elsa sensed her meaning, then cupped her cheek delicately with her hand. "Okay… let's go."

... ... ...

The drive to Arendelle Manor didn't take long, but neither of them spoke the entire way as they made their way beyond the city limits of Oslo towards their ancestral home. After much consideration and discussion, both Elsa and Anna had reached an agreement to donate much of the vast collection that previous generations of their family had accrued. Though the property remained in their possession, the manor was considerably more empty than it was before. The contents of which had been accumulated over generations took a considerable amount of effort and time to remove.

It wasn't an easy choice, given how long some of those items have remained in their possession and the stories that lay behind each one. Even so, they both knew they had no use for them beyond hoarding, and that it was selfish of them to deprive the world of so much hidden culture and history. They struggled for some time between staying in the past to honor their family legacy, or setting a course into the future by determining their own destiny. Eventually, they settled on the latter and chose to share the riches of their heritage. Elsa and Anna were done looking into the past, and Arendelle Manor had become the physical manifestation of a bygone age that served only as a distant reminder of everything they wanted to leave behind. They wanted to let it all go. The anger, the fear, the guilt, the sorrow, and the lost time that can never be brought back. So they did. It took no small amount of effort, but they eventually donated much of their collection to several museums across Norway, most of which came to Oslo's very own Museum of Cultural History where Elsa remained as the chief curator.

The day was clear and bright. Springtime had settled upon Arendelle Manor, chasing away the last remnants of winter as the snow thawed and the ice melted. Winters had a tendency to be harsher in the countryside, but this year had been an exception and the chill departed sooner than was usual. Even so, the ground remained wet and squishy from patches of snow that still lingered in the shade and from the branches of the evergreen trees that shook off their icy coating.

They walked along a muddy trail that lay a small distance away from the manor and wound through the forest. All around them, birds sang and squirrels darted through the underbrush and over the treetops as life returned to the world around them. They walked side by side and hand in hand as the trail twisted its way through the trees. Clutched in Elsa's free hand was a bouquet of flowers, while Anna held the grail in her other hand. Each of them remained silent and were content to leave the other to their quiet contemplation. Before long, they entered a secluded clearing where the Kaldborg family cemetery lay.

Moss covered headstones were arranged in neat rows, interspersed by larger tombs that stood above ground. Dozens of their family members were interred here and the cemetery spanned several long generations. Slowly, they made their way along the path towards the far end of the cemetery where the most recent additions lay. Ahead of them lay the cenotaph of Agnar Kaldborg and Idunn Schneider, where the remains of the parents would have been laid to rest if they had been found.

Elsa stiffened and Anna's breath audibly caught in her throat as they approached. Neither of them had stepped foot in here since their parent's funeral as the memory of it had been far too painful for both of them. They hesitated for a moment, then slowly regarded each other and squeezed their hands for comfort before approaching the cenotaph.

Anna let go of Elsa's hand as she stepped forward, while Elsa maintained a respectful distance.

"Hi mom, hi dad," Anna started shakily and softly. "I'm… I'm sorry I never visited you sooner. I've been," she paused to wipe a few tears from her eyes. "I've just been really busy, you know. But, I'm not anymore, we finished it. We found it. The grail, King Arthur… it was real, all of it. Elsa and I found it together, and I know you'd be happy about that. We're together… and… I don't know how you would feel about us, but I love her. I love her so much," she whispered.

She knelt down and set the grail on a small offering altar that was embedded within the cenotaph.

"Here it is," Anna murmured, and her voice caught in her throat again. "I just wish you could have seen it all… but… this is the best I can do. You can rest now… and wherever you guys are, I miss you," she sniffed then rose to her feet slowly. "I love you guys," she turned away.

Next, Elsa approached the cenotaph then sank to her knees and placed the bouquet of flowers next to the grail.

"Um… hi… it's me, Elsa. I don't really know what to say other than that I wish I could have come by sooner. I guess it was just too much to take, after everything that happened," she shut her eyes and gathered her breath before continuing. "I hurt her… I hurt Anna. I pushed her away and I shut her out, and I did that because I was just scared. I was scared of hurting her. I know that it was my responsibility to watch out for her and protect her… and for a really long time I didn't know if I could do that. I'm sorry I let you down."

She looked down as a tear rolled off her cheek and fell to the stone below where Anna's had fallen earlier. She studied the way they mixed with one another, then looked up again.

"But we fixed it, Anna and I. She forgave me and she gave me the strength I needed to forgive myself," Elsa's voice shuddered as she cried softly. "She's so strong and brave, you'd be so proud of her. I know I am, and I love her because she saved me, she saved my life. She lifted me up and she made me believe that even someone who was as bad as I was could be better. So, I'm going to make another promise. I'm going to spend the rest of my life trying to make her proud and I'm going to do everything I can to make her as happy as she makes me. I don't know if you'd approve of us, but I love her. That's how I feel, and I'm not running or hiding from the truth anymore. I hope you'd be okay with that. I hope you could forgive me as well. Goodbye mom, goodbye dad… I love you."

When she was done, Elsa turned to face Anna, and together, they fell into each other's arms as they embraced one another. They wept softly and shared their grief while nothing was said. Nothing else needed to be said.

Their work was now finished, and with it, the spirits of their parents were laid to rest.

... ... ...

They made their way back to the manor in silence, much like they had when they were on the way to the cemetery. However, this silence was less solemn and more comfortable. The sun shone warmly down upon them, and the wind whispered the sweet and dulcet tones of the healing Earth around them. After they exited the evergreen forest, they found themselves upon a familiar sight. The greenhouse lay ahead of them, and just beyond it was the tall willow tree that stood over their pond.

A sense of curiosity overcame Anna as she sighted the boughs of the willow tree. Without further thought, she took Elsa by the hand and led her around the greenhouse towards the pond.

"Anna?" Elsa asked, slightly concerned. "What are you-"

"There's something I want to see!" Anna beamed as she dragged Elsa along.

The bright and cheery tone of her voice evaporated the smallest of doubts that had begun to form in Elsa's mind, so she grinned in anticipation of whatever antics Anna had planned for them.

The pond stood before them, shining and gleaming as the sun's rays danced across the surface of the water and was cut into dozens of fractal shapes of light. A mother duck was swimming around the pond, demonstrating to the flock of ducklings around her on how to paddle their feet through the water. They chirped and squeaked happily, bobbing about and bumping into each other, heedless of the world around them as they swam in the waters of blissful contentment.

Elsa was led over to the water's edge by Anna, who was elated that for the first time since her fall, she could gaze upon this view without any fear. She sat down on the damp grass, mindless of her own clothing and patted the spot next to her. Elsa sighed, then sat cross-legged next to Anna as they watched the ducks.

Anna hummed happily and leaned over to rest her head against Elsa's shoulder then interlaced their fingers once more. She felt the sun on her skin and Elsa's body against her own. She heard the ducklings babble incoherently and Elsa's steady breathing. Anna committed every last sensation of her surroundings to her memory. She would remember this moment for the rest of her life.

With her free hand, Elsa idly twisted her fingers around in the cool and damp tufts of grass by her side. She smiled as she watched the ducks carry about their duck business. After a while, she turned and planted a soft kiss on Anna's forehead, who returned the favor by leaning up and kissing her just as delicately on the lips.

In that moment of quiet peace, a deep understanding dawned upon them and silently passed between them. It hadn't been easy, and there had been great pain and suffering. There was sorrow and grief. The long years they had spent apart could never be bought back, the clocks could never turn and time could not be reversed. There had been hurt, and there had been loss, and certain things could never be put back nor made right again. Some scars would never fully heal, like the one on Anna's head, or the one on Elsa's shoulder. But, that didn't mean they couldn't grow, change, and become better.

Like everything else in their life, nothing lasted forever, not even darkness. The shadows and doubts that had lingered in their hearts and minds passed on, leaving in their wake light, hope, and a new beginning. It wouldn't always be easy, and there would come times that the darkness would return. However, like the sun and the moon, the light and the dark were part of one another, and neither could exist without the other. There would be good times and there would be bad times. Elsa and Anna would be tested, and they would be rewarded, for the one thing that could endure was the only thing they could create together.

Their love would survive. It would flourish, and prosper, and bloom, and would not wilt before the unyielding passage of time nor the unstoppable winds of change. Even so, their time would eventually pass, but that was okay. Like the ducks that now swam across their pond, unaware of the wide world they were surrounded by, they would continue to do so with or without Elsa and Anna. Life moved on and nothing in the universe could ever change that.

No longer would they stay mired in the past, or paralyzed in the present. Their future awaited them, and Elsa and Anna welcomed it with open arms. For now, they had each other, and that was all they needed. Now was their time, their moment, and like the thieves they were, they would steal every last second they could.

As they continued to watch the ducks in silence, an idea came to Anna. With a careful smile that now spread across her face, she turned to Elsa.

"Elsa?"

"Yes, Anna?" Elsa turned, and her eyes gleamed like moonlight.

"Can I ask you a question?"

"Didn't you just?" Elsa smiled and laughed. The sound of her joy was pure and carried a sweet melody.

Anna laughed along with her, then fell silent while she stared affectionately at Elsa.

"Of course you can, Anna. Anything," Elsa said earnestly as she toyed with a stray lock of her hair.

"Will you," Anna started, then grinned as brightly as the sun. "Will you teach me how to swim?"

Elsa's heart swelled with joy for the trust and faith that Anna placed in her, as well as for her soul that had been forgiven and redeemed. With a smile that could turn the tides in the sea, she nodded eagerly.

"Okay."

The past was in the past, and tomorrow was a promise.

The End


Hello, reader,

If you have made it this far, I would like to thank you for sticking it out all the way to the end. This was my first attempt at a story, and I sincerely hope that you enjoyed it.

An epilogue posted as a separate work contains several bonus chapters which will explore Elsa and Anna's relationship following the conclusion of The Lost Legend.